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Saturday, June 21, 2008

Tour DeKale 5k 6.20.08 Recap

If it is Friday night and it is the 3rd week in June, I am usually in Denton, NC for the Tour DeKale 5k.This is a small town 5k where they do such a great job. I can only briefly describe all of the things that they do.

They do a great job with pre race setup and post race awards. They have tons of food and music to entertain the runners and their families. This is all on top of having one of the best 5k course around

The last 2 years I have finished second and I was looking to move up one spot this year.

Looking around before the race, I saw a couple of other good runners Dwight Jacobs and Justin Sink. Both are good runners and have been delivering quality times on the local road racing circuit.

From the start Justin took out the pace. Dwight was following close behind. During the first 1/2 mile I manueared through the crowd and started to close on them.

I passed Dwight first. Dwight usually doesn't go out fast but he is a fast closer. Justin had opened about 10 to 15 yards on us. By the mile I had close with a few yards of Justin. Rather than pass him, I decided to just follow.

I had trouble closing in my last few races and I wanted to just ride tonight.

As we approached the turn around Justin slowed a little and I moved by him. After the turn around Justin moved back to the front but I stuck on his shorlder.

We exchanged the lead several times over the next mile. I kept trying to push the pace. I knew Dwight would be pushing hard that final mile and I wanted as much ground between us as possible.

Justin and I approach the last hill in the race and he tried to surge ahead. I covered his move but this pushed me over the red line. As we crested the hill Just made one more surge and opened about a 5 to 10 yard gap on me. From that point, I chased hard but I was not able to close the distance.

Looking back on the race, I was rather pleased with my final efforts for race. I ran 5:19, 5:31, and 5:36. My final time was 17:09. Justin crossed the finish line in 17:06 and Dwight was in 17:16.

After the race, I had my yearly hot dog with ketch, mustard, and slaw. I eat only 1 hotdog per year and it is always after the race in Denton.

Other note worthy items - Peter from Vac & Dash gave away shirts and towels after the race. Uwharrie Running club won the Team competition. The award was a nice pair of Brooks gloves and the tacky traveling trophy. I got a nice Runner's Trophy for my efforts. This make the 3rd 2nd place trophy. I will be back next shoot for the matching set of 4.